Question for fellow owners (Starch)

Starch

...how many of you offer paid sick days to your employess.

Do you ever run into problems with people abusing the privelege?

Starch

Dave DeFord

Not in the trade...

But I am a business owner. My experience is that if you offer 5 sick days to employees they will be sick 5 days per year. I have found a better solution is to offer "paid time off" which includes vacation, sick, and personal time. This will almost always hurt some employees and help some others but it also solves your problem of employees lying to you. What I did was to give so much per employee per pay period. The other problem is making sure that it gets reported (not sure how big your business is).
Another option I have seen is to give employees sick days but pay them for the one's they don't use at the end of the year (maybe right before Christmas). There are lots of variations on these schemes. Use your imagination and do what you think is best - you may also want to consult with some of your good employees.

Terry St.James_2

Sick days???

never heard about that in this line of business. My better half gets 9.6 days sick leave per year. if they are not used she gets it paid to her anyways. But in the pipe trades I have been on my own. If I am sick, have to figure how sick I really am. If it is really worth losting a day or two of pay. Sometimes it makes it worst.

Starch

I appreciate the feedback

I realize the potential for abuse is great - which is why I hesitate to implement a policy!

On one side, it's very easy to see someone take advantage of a paid day off if they are "sick."

On the other hand, if you have a good employee who is legitimately ill, or needs time for a family member who is ailing, etc, I'd like to be able to help them out.

I'd sure like to hear from as many others as possible on this subject!

Starch

Phil_6

Yes we do..

...3 sick days a year paid and 2 personal days plus a weeks paid vacation and another week off with pay if I go on vacation out of the country and we close up shop. If I don't go away, or if I go somewhere that the cell phone works,I give them that second week off at the time of their choice, and they work while I'm away.

And of course they're gonna abuse it, what kinda question is that?? ;-)

Terry St.James_2

It is a good idea. There could be abuse too. But if you are offering that 5 days in pay to an employee,if they are not used. Well,the cash comes in handy at this time of year or during slower months. As I said we do not have paid sick days but do get 4 weeks holidays a year. These holidays are a must due to the fact many employers were threaten job lost if someone wanted some time off. The government moved in(jeez those guys are everywhere)and made it law.

Starch

I know!!! LOL

I think the term "sick day" is probably not accurate.

You may as well call it a personal day, don't put any restrictions on it, plan on everyone using as many as they have available, and work it into your yearly budget.

Starch

heatboy

It would depend on ............

the employee, Starch. People that give to the company should be rewarded. Maybe set it up as a bonus. The days are there if you need them and if there are any days left, a bonus check the day after Thanksgiving, just in time for Christmas. Add up the days for your select guys then include the extra pay into your overhead billable hour.

hb

See you in Lost Wages?

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Starch

You bet!!

I'll be there, pal, with at least 20 bucks in my pocket!

I appreciate your input, too!

Starch

Travis G.

sick days

You know sometimes you need to have a personal day just to gather your thoughts, or find where you dropped you ambition. Some employees do abuse the sick days but don't forget that this time of year we all get something when we go house to house to house. Please stay healthy everyone. Remember we are a dieing breed.

Bob_15

sick days

Just an opinion from the employee side of the subject-I find it to be much better to have all paid time off to be considered personal time. We all have times when we need to be absent from work(family matters,house chores, actually sick etc.)I would rather inform my employer ahead of time about any time off needed,rather than call in the day off pretending to be "sick".And I'm sure he likes it better with regards to scheduling.And with a set amount of days off upfront, any employee going above the set amount stays home without getting paid,there by reducing cases of abuse.

Tim T

I once worked for a guy

who offered well days. if you worked 3 months in a row without calling in sick you recieved a well day. That could be used as a scheduled day off. Tim

Pat Clark

sick days

I give my guys 10 hours per quarter the first year and 20 hours per quarter after that. This is personal time off and can be used for any reason. They do not lose it, ever. If they have hours left when they leave employ, they get it then. This system has not been abused as it is fair and equal to everyone. One thing that hasn't happened yet but I would do if asked, is to pay the time when they need the money even if they don't take the time off. If they take more time off than they have available, it is unpaid time.

Most of the time they will take unpaid time for a sick day to save up their time for a vacation period.

Pat

Bell Plumbing & Heating

Bill NTSG

Starcher

You know , sometimes you spend more time with people at work than you do with family. If you work with people long enough you can tell when they are not feeling well. Most people I work with have to be sent home. Like get the heck out of here and get some rest.

So, give them 3 sick days. And when you know they are REALLY sick pay them for those days too. This way it will be appreciated and not expected or abused.

Steve Ebels

The Golden Rule

You all know what that is. Treat others as you would like to be treated. I have found that I am never hurt in any way when I practice that advice in any situation.

One of my guys had surgery for cancer a year and a half ago and was laid up for six weeks. We have no policy covering that length of time. I decided that I would write him a check for $200 every week just to help out with groceries and other basics. I talked to the other guys about it and we decided to all put in a couple extra hours each week. Long story short. Everybody won. To say that my guy was thankful would be an understatement. All of us who worked the extra hours felt good that we were helping him and his family out.

Wethead7

Sick days

The service personel get 10 personal days a year. We also provide three weeks of vaction time. Personal days can be used anytime they are not on call. If the employee is ill while on call somebody else will cover. But on-call pay is lost and the employee required to double the on-call time next rotation. The vacation time may not be use without 14 days notice. We have had people take personal time and end up at work anyway. Take thier child to the doctor or some other thing and return or come to work. So personal days are now paid by the hour. Service personal can take additional time off(unpaid), but return compant truck to any of the yards after two weeks. We also pay for additional time over billed hours. Three billed hours to one hour of unbilled.

The other trade employees basicly constuction.Residental, Comercal,& the digging crews get 4 days personal a year and two weeks vacation. Digging crews are sometimes adwarded additional personal time. The result of service department calling them in,working late and or long hours for Emergance repairs.

Employees can save up time for up to six months blocks of combined leave. They may also use the leave and work. Basicly we pay it out as bounces.

Service personel are given more leave time and other perks.
The reason for this is construction are not called-in,not trained as well as service. Service personel also fix or repair warranty work for the construction departments.

Our service deartment makes over 60% of the profit on less than 40% of the sales. The department that has made profit for the last five years. Before that We lost money on service for over ten years. The big changes under my watch. We at service do all the fire-up, boiler install under 50 Hp, Hydronic work( includes radiant), furnance, A/C replacement.

The other thing you did not ask about is profit sharing, retirement, and other benifits.

I am not the owner but the service manager.

Mike

Andy_6

I don't give any sick days. We do earned paid time off. What that means is for every hour worked there is time given that can be used at any time. It works great because the people the work the most get the most paid time off! If you have some body that always takes time off with out pay, they don't get a free ride based on the calander, only working hours count. Our payroll automatically keeps track of this and have not had one complaint about the process.